What Next For the Rangers and Ducks?

Their playoffs now over, the NY Rangers and Anaheim Ducks face off-season decisions. Read on for the latest.

NEW YORK POST: Larry Brooks reported Sunday the Rangers hard work against the Washington Capitals weren’t enough to overcome a lack of talent, which Brooks attributed to the Blueshirts elimination from this year’s playoffs by the Capitals. Brooks noted the Rangers summer cap number is approximately $47.6 million, but that doesn’t include the estimated $12 million it might take to re-sign RFAs Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Brian Boyle, Mark Sauer and Matt Gilroy. As for banished defenseman Wade Redden, the Rangers could have no choice but to waive him again next season unless he opts to retire. They could consider buying out the final year of team captain Chris Drury’s contract, although if he undergoes knee surgery prior to the June 15-30 buyout period the Rangers would be unable to use that option. Other potential buyout candidates could be Wojtek Wolski and Sean Avery. Of their impending UFAs, Ruslan Fedotenko is the only one likely to receive a contract offer.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Jesse Spector reported the problems for the Rangers were some of GM Glen Sather’s big ticket acquisitions, as Marian Gaborik had a sub-par performance this season, they got nothing from Derek Boogaard and Alex Frolov (season-ending injuries), while Bryan McCabe had a terrible final month of the season and a worse playoffs. Spector also believes the Rangers could try to re-sign Fedotenko, it will be interesting to see what they do with forward Vaclav Prospal, while it’ll be surprising if they re-signed Alex Frolov. He noted the rumors which have the Rangers possibly pursuing Dallas Stars center Brad Richards this summer but suggested such a move could hamper their efforts to upgrade their roster and retain some key players.

NORTHJERSEY.COM: Andrew Gross reported this summer’s free agent class is a thin one for the Rangers if they hope to bolster their depth at forward, with the best potential options being Brad Richards, Tim Connolly, Jason Arnott and Brooks Laich, who played left and right wing for the Capitals. Another important priority is re-signing RFA forward Ryan Callahan, who earned $2.3 million this season.

NEW YORK TIMES: Jeff Z. Klein reported the Rangers might have to clear out some salary if they hope to pursue an expensive UFA like Richards, but ruled out trading Gaborik and his $7.5 million per season contract. Prospal, Frolov and Fedotenko might not be back, while management’s priority will be re-signing Callahan and Dubinsky. A potential replacement for McCabe could be Canadiens blueliner James Wisniewski, who is eligible for UFA status in July.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sather has the cap space to re-sign his key restricted free agents, but if he wants to add a big ticket player he’ll have to shed some salary, and contract buyouts of Drury, Avery and/or Wolski could be one way of doing it. Sather has been rumored for months interested in landing Richards and may well get him, but such a move could also create some cap difficulty if he’s not careful. Frolov, Prospal, and McCabe won’t be back, but I could see them keeping Fedotenko. Sather will either have to re-sign Callahan and Dubinsky before July 1st or risk them receiving offer sheets from rival clubs, unless they or Sather file for salary arbitration, which would make them ineligible to receive offer sheets. Sather employed this tactic before with Henrik Lundqvist.

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER/LOS ANGELES TIMES: reports Anaheim Ducks winger Teemu Selanne faces another off-season where he’ll have to decide if he’ll return to the Ducks for another season or retire. Selanne said he had no timeframe for his decision, though when asked late in the season he suggested July 1st.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The 40-year-old Selanne proved still capable this season of playing at a high level, finishing second on the Ducks in points in the regular season with 80 in 73 games, plus leading the Ducks in goals in their playoff series against Nashville. While those stats indicate he could have enough left for one more season, it might also be worthwhile to consider retiring while still at the top of his game, rather than risk a significant slump which would have fans and pundits criticizing his decision to return. Hopefully Selanne doesn’t let this drag on throughout the summer, as that’ll allow management time to try and replace him if he does opt for retirement. Forget about him signing elsewhere, it’s the Ducks or no one for “the Finnish Flash”.

10 Comments

Kyle
on April 25, 2011 at 4:49 pm

I think the notion of criticizing a player for returning to play the game he loves is unfair. If he is still enjoying the game at a high level or not he should be allowed to play. If anything it’s mind bogglingly impressive that he’s notching over a point a game at age 40. Do you think Ducks fans want to see him retire? No way. As the same question to Wings fans about Lidstrom.

MJR I
on April 25, 2011 at 6:32 pm

Selanne is more than a PPG player in the league and still one of the top talents on the Power Play. I see no reason for him NOT to return next year. So long as he’s a PPG player, keep him around!

chaas
on April 25, 2011 at 7:41 pm

Sather should be fired. Tortorella seems ineffective these days, so maybe it’s time for new life behind the bench too.

Gaborik’s poor performance this season came at a time where the Rangers couldn’t buy a week without someone important being hurt. I’m not really sold on the whole “get rid of him” idea. I kind of don’t think Frolov should be out either, but his drawback is the injury, and he’ll want some money.

Fedotenko was a hard worker all season when he was healthy, so they should definitely try to keep him around. Same for Dubinsky Callahan and Anisimov. They may as well keep that line together next season, they’re as much a catalyst as the Prust and Boyle line. Keep those six forwards, find a solid number three defenseman to play with Eminger, and keep the kids as the third pair. Flesh out the roster with a combination of Hartford kids and depth signings, and maybe go after a big ticket center for Gaborik’s line.

PS: Will someone please teach the Rangers the proper way to block shots? There’s a reason the padding is mostly in the front…

Wake me in September, I’m not sure I can handle reading up on how the Rangers manage to fail at everything in the off-season.

Cowtown75
on April 25, 2011 at 7:47 pm

Mr. Richardson, why is it that Selanne wouldn’t consider signing elsewhere ? Is that a for sure- for sure ?

Cowtown, because he’s previously stated since 2007 the only team he’d play for is the Ducks. He won’t change his mind now.

Andre
on April 25, 2011 at 8:38 pm

yeah not to mention he has his hole fam and house in orange county and loves it there. but the real question is is there a better goalie or back up goalie in case jonas hiller cant play cause honestly ray emery is not my choice for back up. but if selannes do retire do you see him staying in anaheim as staff like most players are now a days like hull,yzerman,or mario lemiuex

DurtMCHurt
on April 25, 2011 at 8:57 pm

Hey chaas, you seem to know a lot more then me about the rangers. You mentioned letting the young guys fill out the rest of the roster, do you think kreider (sp?) is ready?

chaas
on April 26, 2011 at 3:21 pm

I’m actually not sure who you’re referring to Durt. There are a couple guys on the Whale roster that seem to be ready. Mats Zuccarello, Kris Newbury and Brodie Dupont have been pretty impressive this year. Only Zuccarello spent significant time in New York, but I think any of them could join the big club as a depth player. Grachev’s probably a year or two away.

On the back end, I was referring to McDonough and Gilroy, though the latter might not be back. In that case, Del Zotto might be the next best number six in the system.

I think having vets and guys who have been in the NHL for some time in the farm system has significantly improved their development. The presence of Wade Redden has certainly affected Del Zotto.

DurtMCHurt
on April 26, 2011 at 6:56 pm

Chris Kreider was NY’s 1st rounder (#19) in the 2009 draft. You were talking about filling the depth forwards with young guys and I immediately thought of him. He may not be ready yet but he’s listed as 6’2 205 lbs out of Boston college. He’s a left handed shot, so maybe he can play on a line with Boyle and Prust on a humongous line incase the Rangers have to battle godzilla or something.

chaas
on April 27, 2011 at 1:19 am

With Pronger in the same division and Chara just up the 90, it might be nice to have three giants out there! Unfortunately I missed pretty much all of the college hockey season so I couldn’t tell you if he was ready or not. I can tell you that Ken Gernander runs the farm team like a clinic and if he needs a year or two in the system he’ll come out a much better player for it. The option in the meantime would be re-sign Fedotenko and pencil him in on that line, then figure out the Gaborik line once Dubinsky Callahan and Anisimov are under contract.

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